Post by Focus on Jun 21, 2013 5:09:07 GMT
Top Ministry of Defence bureaucrats are pocketing bonuses as high as £60,000 while thousands of frontline troops are being sacked, it has emerged.
About 70 mandarins have shared almost £700,000 for ‘good performance’, while 4,480 soldiers received redundancy letters on Tuesday.
The penpushers shared an average of £10,000 each as a reward for trying to save the wasteful department money as British service personnel face P45s after risking their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.
MoD bureaucrats are receiving bonuses two or three times higher than the basic salary of a new recruit in the army
One civil servant received £60,000 on top of a bumper salary. Payments of £48,720, £36,541 and £35,729 were banked by other unnamed bureaucrats.
The basic salary of an Army new recruit risking life and limb on the front line is about £17,265.
Critics yesterday said the bonuses were ‘insensitive’ when military resources were being pared back and pay rises for personnel are being capped at 1 per cent for two years.
Conservative MP Priti Patel, who uncovered the figures, said: ‘In light of austerity and the cuts we have been required to make, particularly at the MoD, this shows the need for restraint around the whole bonus culture.
‘The case for reallocating resources from the bonus pot to the front line is easy to make more than ever right now as cuts fall on the Armed Forces.
There will be anger from Forces’ families that this culture still exists, especially if they have had bad news this week.
‘The British public has tremendous respect for the Armed Forces and stands by them because of the important and challenging job they do and they will also be angry.’
Labour defence spokesman Jim Murphy added: ‘Any such payments should only be approved in exceptional circumstances.
At a time when we are making thousands of troops redundant to save money, the MoD must look again at whether it has got its priorities right.’
Generous bonuses were paid despite the cash-strapped Ministry of Defence culling troops, warships, fighter jets, spy planes and armored vehicles.
Chancellor George Osborne wants the ministry to find £4.7 billion of savings and plug a £36 billion hole in the budget for equipment it has ordered, but cannot afford.
4,480 British soldiers received redundancy letters on Tuesday
Defence chiefs are reducing the number of regular soldiers in the Army from 102,000 to 82,000 – its smallest since before the Napoleonic Wars more than 200 years ago.
In total, 11,100 Army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel have so far been made redundant by the Coalition since 2010.
Over the same period, the number of MoD civil servants has fallen by 19,920 to 63,080.
Following the latest cuts, General Sir Peter Wall, the head of the Army, admitted morale was ‘under strain’ for troops whose pay, pensions and living allowances are being squeezed.
Yet military families will be outraged that despite the cuts, the most senior civil servants are still receiving huge bonuses.
Figures released to Parliament show that in the last financial year, 71 top bureaucrats – either employed permanently or on fixed-term contracts – shared £682,026, with payouts averaging £9,606.
Of these, the bonuses to the most handsomely-remunerated 20 officials totaled £375,400.
More than 51,000 junior MoD civil servants shared £28 million – typically taking home £540.
The bonus pot is about a third lower than the £43 million paid out in the previous year, but paying perks to civil servants while cutting Armed Forces jobs is a political embarrassment to the Coalition.
In opposition, the Tories and Liberal Democrats vowed to get a grip on the bonus culture at the MoD.The awards are described as performance linked and are paid for efforts such as saving cash and improving diversity.
Since Britain went to war with Iraq in 2003, staff in the MoD have shared more than £400 m in bonuses
Only a small proportion of the non-uniformed workforce missed out on the perk, raising suspicions that they are handed out as a routine part of salary.
Since Britain went to war with Iraq in March 2003, MoD bureaucrats have shared more than £400 million in bonuses.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘A reduction of around £14 million has been made in the amount paid out compared to the previous year.
‘The current structure for performance related pay was inherited from the last Government, but this will be the last year that so many people are rewarded.
‘Changes have been made so this year’s awards are smaller, with larger awards going to the top performing staff.
‘In future, a maximum of 25 per cent of staff will be awarded for genuinely outstanding performance.’
A defence source added: ‘Ministers wanted to go further but were prevented form doing so by the system set up by the last Labour government.
‘In future, not only will there be a reduced pot, but even fewer will be allowed bonuses to ensure only those who genuinely perform outstandingly are recognized.’
[There will be anger from Forces’ families that this culture still exists, especially if they have had bad news this week] - What the fck do they expect?? - Another almighty smack in the face for our troops!! - Fx
